Scourge
Scourge was the designation given to the first Category III Kaiju ever to emerge from the Pacific Ocean. Enigmatically, where most Kaiju assault large human populations relentlessly until they have been destroyed, Scourge retreated into the ocean depths to fight another day and was spotted on several occasions before its final death. The creature had single-handedly destroyed six Jaegers before its death, making it statistically the most lethal Kaiju on-record. Physical Characteristics A hexapedal Kaiju, Scourge stood nearly 270 feet high at the shoulder, and weighed just over 2,000 tons. Each of its six massive legs was actually the result of several limbs being spliced together, strong enough to crumble solid rock or concrete walls. Overlapping plates of hard, organic armor protected its body, strong but jointed so that Scourge retained an incredible agility. Two tails, each stretching over a hundred feet, were also hardened and could whip at high enough speeds that their tips would break the sound barrier, producing small sonic booms. Scourge's most deadly feature, however, was its huge jaws. Long and wide, it was armored like the rest of its body and extremely heavy by proportion. It lacked separate teeth, instead its armor coming to sharpened points along the jawline in two rows with enough muscle to create a bite force approaching a thousand tons, capable of crushing the densest Jaeger armor. This natural weapon led to comparisons by early Kaiju researchers of the beast to crocodilians, at the time still believing the Kaiju to be of Earth origin, along with legs that protrude to the side of its body, like those of a lizard. After its battle with Storm Witch, Scourge bore a number of nasty scars, including one that had lost it the use of its right eye and ran along its jaw. Within its armored skull were two in-line brains that processed Scourge's cognitive and motor functions. Like all Kaiju, Scourge's entire body was highly toxic, their corrosive blue blood running through its veins visible on its armor's surface, in its eyes, and mouth. Though a little under mid-size for a Category III, the creature gave off particularly strong radiation, justifying its placement on the Serizawa scale. Sightings Vancouver, 2015 :"PPDC Case File 04629, classification level November-Black. Eyes-only." :—File information for the Vancouver observation data. On April 23rd, 2015, the Kaiju dubbed Karloff was detected by the Pacific Tracking Network and emerged in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. While the prototype Jaeger Brawler Yukon was mobilized to respond, the PTN detected another anomaly off-shore which registered much larger. Though the Mark-1 Jaeger engaged the Kaiju, the second contact remained where it was, far below sea level. After the Brawler Yukon eliminated Karloff, the target moved back into open sea and was lost to tracking efforts. Despite the very serious implications of its appearance, PPDC commanders willfully ignored the contact and wrote it off as a non-allied nation's submarine covertly observing the battle. The incident was classified by the PPDC because of its desperate need of the morale boost Brawler Yukon's victory provided, keeping all information from the public. Observation data of the contact's size and shape would correlate to later sightings of Scourge, leading to the conclusion that it was the Kaiju in question. This would make the Vancouver battle technically the first Double-Event in history. Valparaiso, 2018 The first confirmed sighting of a Category III Kaiju came on October 8th, 2018, in Valparaiso, Chile. An unusually large Kaiju was picked up by the PTN and predicted to surface on the coastline not far from Santiago, the Chilean capital. The construction and preliminary tests for Brazil's first Jaeger, a Mark-3 christened Storm Witch, had recently been completed, and its team housed at Peru's Lima Shatterdome were eager to test their mettle. Cleared for deployment, pilots Maria Fierro and Rachel Saldana were airlifted along with Storm Witch to meet the attack head-on. Scourge surfaced before Storm Witch reached its destination, and proceeded to lay waste to the coastal city of Valparaiso. When the Jaeger did at last arrive, the city's port was all but destroyed, and Fierro and Saldana were dropped into the port's mouth to cut it off from open water. Coming around, the Kaiju entered combat with Storm Witch, and the battle began. Storm Witch made the first move by deploying a number of flares and display lights in an effort to disorient the Kaiju, which were still believed to be animals. Scourge, however, was not deterred, and sought to clamp the Jaeger in its jaws. The Brazilian pilots fell back momentarily, giving them enough time to charge an ionized plasma chain which functioned as an electrified whip for Storm Witch. Lashing out with the weapon, Storm Witch caught the Kaiju on its flank and wrapped the end around Scourge's hind leg, causing wide swaths of agonizing burn wounds. After a brief struggle, Scourge managed to pull free and backed off, circling at the edge of Storm Witch's range. They soon closed again, Storm Witch's whip inflicting another serious wound as they clashed. The Kaiju made several snaps of its jaw, not quite close enough as it tried to escape the whip's reach, and received another blow to its face for its trouble, leaving its left eye scarred and mutilated. After drawing back once more, Scourge lured Storm Witch's pilots into roping one of its legs again, and despite the pain charged at the Jaeger before it could ready a defense. The creature's jaws closed on Storm Witch's shoulder, and crumpled armor and hydraulics like tin foil before ripping the Jaeger's arm and part of its torso out. Unable to withstand the pain any longer, Scourge backed away, and thus was safe when the damage it had done caused Storm Witch's dual nuclear reactors to go critical. Fierro and Saldana attempted to launch their conn pod's escape function, but found it damaged as well and were caught in the Jaeger's explosion. Storm Witch's destruction killed both of them instantly, along with a chopper that had moved in for a rescue attempt, and a destroyed another section of Valparaiso. After watching the explosion, Scourge turned away instead of doing further harm, returning to the ocean and diving beyond tracking depth. The Valparaiso encounter was a crushing defeat for the PPDC. Disheartened by the loss of their first Jaeger in its first battle, Brazil cancelled funding for subsequent Jaegers and left the South American branch out an ally, and Valparaiso, though not totally destroyed, had been poisoned by radiation and lost the port that had been its economic foundation. Though it spurred on development efforts of the Mark-4 Jaegers, the incident would also lead Brazil to become a major supporter of the Anti-Kaiju Wall and ending the Jaeger Program. Seattle, 2021 August 14th, 2021, the Kaiju Emergency Alert System is late in picking up a Category III Kaiju swimming up the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A helicopter was called in to provide surveillance of the creature, and upon entering visual range sent back images to PPDC Command where a database matches its outline to that of Scourge. With Jaegers unable to respond before it reaches a major city, Command considered a nuclear option, but decided against it because of potential fallout in Vancouver and Seattle. As the Anchorage Shatterdome readied Canadian Jaeger Chrome Brutus to respond, Scourge turned into the Puget Sound, revealing its target to be Seattle, which in addition to being a major population center housed both ship and Jaeger drydocks. Upon surfacing in the port of Seattle, it headed straight for Jaeger drydocks, obviously intending to destroy the repair complexes and Jaegers housed within. Among those in refit at the time were Brawler Yukon and the Russian Iron Maiden, both of which lay partially dismantled. Despite the valiant efforts of a hastily-assembled crew of pilots and technicians led by Lieutenant Phillip Malmstadt to activate the disabled Jaegers, the giant fighting machines were destroyed by Scourge as they sat defenseless in their berths. Most of the volunteers, including Lt. Malmstadt, were killed by the Kaiju's rampage, but their actions did allow a third Jaeger, Romeo Blue, to launch and escape its hangar before it collapsed. Catching up with Scourge as it moved overland towards the Seattle Space Needle, Romeo Blue opened fire on the Kaiju with the large caliber Gatling guns embedded in its chest. Recoiling from the wounds, Scourge moved into the city streets, placing buildings between them. With Chrome Brutus still many minutes out, Romeo Blue was forced to pursue to try and minimize the Kaiju's damage. Though it was quick enough to flank the ultra-heavy Jaeger, Romeo Blue's sheer weight brought Scourge's attack to a dead stop, bashing its head against the side of a building. Its pilots next attempted their war machine's trademark tracheal break with its long arms, but Scourge pushed them back against the facades of skyscrapers on the other side and slipped past them. Reengaging upon the waterfront, the Jaeger pilots threw Scourge through a pier into the water, and immediately unleashed another hail of fire from their Gatling cannons. But Scourge disappeared under the murky waters of the sound, and they were ordered to hold fire until they had a clear shot. As they stood waiting, however, their enemy lunged out of the water from their side, clamping its jaws around the tall crest protruding from the Jaeger's chest. Its cannons firing harmlessly, unable to come to bear, the Romeo Blue was dragged into the water and fell prone. Its weight suddenly became a liability, and after ripping off its crest, Scourge bit down on the Jaeger's midsection and severed its torso in half. Though the fighting machine's conn pod was able to launch, it collided with the steel pilings holding up the nearby piers and pilots Bruce Mackenzie and Trevin Jules were killed on impact. Leaving the wreckage of Romeo Blue behind, Scourge continued towards the Space Needle when Chrome Brutus appeared over the horizon. The Kaiju's attention shifted, and after several seconds watching the approaching Jaeger, it instead dived back into Puget Sound. Though Chrome Brutus attempted to cut of its retreat, Scourge escaped through the Admiralty Inlet and entered open sea before a nuclear response could pursue. The day ended with three Jaegers destroyed, the loss of Brawler Yukon a particularly bitter defeat, and Seattle's extensive repair yards out of action for almost six months. Chrome Brutus remained on-site to aid in the cleanup, carrying the remains of Romeo Blue to rest with its fellow Jaegers in the ruins of their repair yards until they could be taken to their permanent rest in Oblivion Bay. An image of Brutus carrying the broken Romeo Blue in its arms, featured on the covers of several prominent magazines, became an ingrained image in the public consciousness of the defeat. The battle was not a complete loss, however, as HAZMAT teams were able to contain most of the toxic and radioactive spills and minimize collateral damage, allowing Seattle's scars to heal almost within a year. St. Lawrence Island, 2022 The destruction of four battle machines by one Kaiju made the PPDC finally decide more offensive measures would have to be taken in order to win the conflict. Improvements were made to improve the efficiency of Jaeger deployments and cut down on response time, and when Scourge was spotted in the shallow waters over the former Bering Land Bridge, they were ready. Two Jaegers were mobilized; Canada's Chrome Brutus, and Japan's Coyote Tango, moving to intercept the Kaiju from either direction. In the pre-dawn hours of November 6th, 2022, Chrome Brutus was first to overtake its target near St. Lawrence Island and was dropped into the sea by airlift choppers to engage. Scourge turned to face its opponent and submerged, but Chrome Brutus, having been designed for deep sea operations, followed suit to meet the Kaiju on a level playing field. Scourge made a passing snap at the Jaeger's legs, and pilots answered with a fast kick that caught it upside the head. Shaking off the hit and adjusting to Chrome Brutus' unexpected speed, Scourge circled around and came at it again, this time seeking to bite the vulnerable Conn Pod. But the machine put its arms out before it and caught the Kaiju's lower jaw, going with the attack's force instead of damaging itself by trying to stop it. After a struggle, Chrome Brutus got its legs underneath Scourge and delivered a powerful kick to the Kaiju's belly, forcing it to disentangle itself from the Jaeger and take a moment's reprieve. At this point, Coyote Tango arrived and dropped in alongside Chrome Brutus, operated by brothers Vic and Gunnar Tunari. With the operation controllers integrated into one clear chain-of-command, the Jaegers coordinated to attack Scourge from either side. The Kaiju didn't wait, however, and repaying Chrome Brutus for the earlier kicks, charged it, rolled, and impacted the Canadian Jaeger's torso with enough force to knock out some of the turbofans giving it its underwater mobility. With the Brutus handicapped, Scourge turned on the smaller Japanese Mark-1. Coyote Tango fired several mortars from its back-mounted cannons as they closed, but being designed to fire from over the surface to under, they were of little consequence. Though perhaps Scourge expected an easy kill, the Tunaris used their Jaeger's surprising agility to maneuver up and over its head. Extending the VP-1 Energy Caster on the Jaeger's forearm, Coyote Tango delivered several boiling plasma blasts along Scourge's back and spine before it passed, boiling away seawater, blood, and flesh. They would not be so lucky a second time. As Scourge circled around in another pass, when the Coyote Tango tried to repeat its maneuver the Kaiju rolled and twisted its head, mangling one of the Jaeger's cannons between its teeth. The weapon didn't snap, however, pulling the Jaeger along with it, and farther beyond the range of Chrome Brutus to begin thrashing the smaller Jaeger around. The trauma it received caused Coyote Tango's infamous reactor shielding to break open once again, despite the reinforcement it had received after the last incident. With the Jaeger all but disabled anyway, the Tunaris ejected from Coyote Tango via Conn Pod, leaving it in Scourge's jaws. Feeling the battle machine cease fighting, Scourge left it to drift and swam back towards Chrome Brutus, but the Canadian Jaeger fired a number of warning shots that warded off the already-wounded Kaiju. With neither vehicle able to pursue, Scourge headed south and survived combat yet again, with another victory to its name. The damage done to Chrome Brutus was minor and quickly repaired, though its turbofans were reinforced against shock for its next battle. Command decided against repairing the Coyote Tango, however, despite that it was still somewhat operable. The massive breach of its reactor shielding had bombarded the Tunaris brothers with atomic radiation in excess of a human's capacity to take, resulting in the pair's deaths and causing command to lose faith in the machine's early design, and its hulk was shipped to its final resting place in Oblivion Bay.This accounts for the discrepancy of Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters listing Coyote Tango as both Killed In Action and Retired. Panama City, 2024 Notes and References *The scars on Scourge's face and his repeated appearances made him one of the most publicly-recognized Kaiju, which led the creators of the children's cartoon "Jaeger Squad" to base the appearance of their main villain, Charybdis, on Scourge. Category:Kaiju Category:Category III Category:Deceased